Earth Day and everything…

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

I hope fans of Ornithoblogical aren’t too disgruntled, but I haven’t had much time for birds lately. However—lucky me—on this Earth Day, I’ll be painting a bucolic setting for an upcoming picture book full of mountains and trees. I might even go out and hug a tree for real later, before the rain starts.

I’ve also been working on a few new pieces for Kiwi Magazine’s regular “Cooking with Kids” feature. Last issue, we learned how to prepare an artichoke for slaughter…

In the next, we learn how to shuck corn, or in my anthropomorphized version, perform a cornhusking striptease. You’ll have to wait a few months to see that full frontal, but if you want a little teaser, I do share details and sketches of what I’m up to over on Instagram.

Speaking of Instagram, here are two sneak peeks at some details from the same book I’m working on today (sorry, Facebook and Twitter friends—old news to you)…

Okay, it’s back to the picture book trenches for me. I hope your Earth Day is full of sunshine and daffodils.

A look at the year to come

Happy New Year! I hope yours it getting off to a great start. For me, 2014 is already shaping up into a busy year. 

As I mentioned on this page a few months ago, I’m in the process of sketching 2 new picture books that will be released in 2015: The Wrong Side of the Bed, by Lisa Bakos, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons; and Simple Machines, another non-fiction picture book by David A. Adler, published by Holiday House. I look forward to sharing a few teaser images as I get further into the painting process.

And great news! It looks like I’ll be illustrating another book for Candlewick, my World Rat Day publisher. I’ll share more details at a later date. 

My work for Kiwi Magazine continues. If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to eat more leafy greens, then the current issue’s “Cooking with Kids” section is just what you’ll need to learn how to clean and prepare kale, minus the army of industrious green peas, of course. 

If you were unable to see the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators over the last few months, you might be able to catch the traveling show. For more information, click here. I was very pleased that my image from World Rat Day was included.

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2014!

cooking with kids - kiwi magazine

It’s three years and counting for my relationship with Kiwi Magazine, illustrating  their “Cooking with Kids” section. The other day, the new editorial director got me caught up on tear sheets, pictured above.

We’ve done so much the last few months—made crackers, breadcrumbs, and rolled sushi. I just finished another series of cooking spots this week, so more on that when the next issue is out.

rolling sushi (with avocado and squash)

It’s autumn, and what better way to enjoy this season’s harvest than with a homemade batch of vegetarian sushi? Uh...yeah...

If you need a lesson in rolling, look no further than the current issue of Kiwi Magazine. Better yet, learn how with an avocado and a butternut squash leading the way.  

This was my last issue with Art Director Ridge Carpenter, who’s moving on to bigger and better things. It also marks the my three year anniversary illustrating the “Cooking with Kids” section of Kiwi. 

It’s been a terrific and challenging stint, and hopefully will continue, even with the changing of the guard. 

In the next issue, we’re making breadcrumbs, but to find out which of the recipe’s ingredients shows you how, you’ll have to wait a few months. 

Okay...time to get rollin’!

late summer book update

It’s been a while since I posted an update on my ongoing book projects, so here goes...

In July, I signed with Holiday House to illustrate a non-fiction picture book by the prolific David A. Adler, and I’m having a great time with the water-related theme. It has also been a welcome distraction from the dreadful, hot weather in NYC this summer.

Sylvia’s Spinach is due in stores this November, but if you want to get a jump on your shopping, it’s available for pre-order here.

The lovely folks at Candlewick sent me proofs of World Rat Day the other day, which was a thrill. I’m really loving how the book has turned out, and can’t wait to share some images when the time is right. The same holds true about pre-ordering this book—that is, if you really want to get a jump on your shopping for 2013. Here’s where to go. The official pub date for World Rat Day is March 12th, so you’ll have to wait a while longer to see what this gang of rat butchers is running from.

In other news, the “Cooking with Kids” section of the current issue of Kiwi Magazine teaches kids how to flour a cookie cutter! Surely, a vital life skill, if there ever was one. Next issue’s lesson is bit more challenging, but more on that later. One step at a time...

eat your peas...

April is the cruelest month, if you are a chicken-hater, and aren’t a fan of fresh peas. Despite all that, this month, in a series of spots in the latest issue of Kiwi Magazine, I show you how to shell the latter. And you will like them!

another peak @ sylvia’s spinach + bird 500 + more

 Happy Friday! Also Happy Birthday to Theodor Geisel, one of my idols.

This week, I’ve been finishing up the final art for “Sylvia’s Spinach”, and finally met my delightful editor/publisher Philip Lee of Readers to Eaters in person. Another teaser from the book is pictured above.

In other news, Ornithoblogical reached a big milestone yesterday with the posting of bird #500. There’s been lots of heavy-lifting going on in my studio this week. Not the least of which has been trying to find a place to store all of that art.

Also, I’ve got series of spots in the current issue of Kiwi Magazine, another installment in their cooking with kids series. This time we wash and trim mushrooms! Living the dream...

your holiday prep...rescued!

If you’re like me, you sometimes get so caught up in holiday hype, you forget how to do even the simplest of things. Thankfully, the folks at Kiwi Magazine and I are here to help. 

Yes, now you’ll never have to stress about remembering how to shape a cookie. Available on newstands—if not now, soon—here it is in print, complete with step-by-step illustrations. So even if you forget how to read, your holidays table won’t be ruined by square cookies. And anyway, if I were you, I’d be more worried about that bossy walnut with the ruler.

of potstickers and sleep apnea

A changing of the guard always brings with it the potential for growing pains, but I’m pleased to report my delight with the tear sheets that arrived in my mailbox today. The current issue of Kiwi Magazine on newsstands marks my first collaboration with their new creative director, Ridge Carpenter. 

As usual, my illustrations are featured in two sections: accompanying the essay on the last page, and in a series of spots for their “Cooking with Kids” section (above). The latter is now much more cleanly designed and, lucky me, my images are larger.  

So for the latest techniques on how to fold a potsticker, and to learn how a dad copes with the dangerous mix of parenting and sleep apnea...Well...you know the drill.